Peeta's Mockingjay
by DauntlesslyShadowhunting
Summary: Peeta and Katniss if they were both rescued by 13 (improved version of the original)
1. Chapter 1

_"Katniss" he says softly, "it's no use pretending we don't know what the other one is trying to do." No, I guess there isn't, but it's no fun discussing it either. Well not for us anyway. The Capitol viewers will be glued to their sets so they don't miss one wretched word. "I don't know what kind of deal you think you've made with Haymitch, but you should know he made me promises as well." Of course, I know this, too. He told Peeta they could keep me alive so that he wouldn't be suspicious "So I think we can asume he was lying to one of us."_

_This gets my attention. A double deal. A double promise. With only Haymitch knowing which one is real. I raise my head to meet Peeta's eyes. "Why are you saying this now?"_

_"Because I don't want you forgetting how different our circumstances are. If you die, and I live, there's no life for me at all back in District Twelve. You're my whole life." he says. "I would never be happy again." I start to object but he puts a finger to my lips. "It's different for you. I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard. But there are other people who make your life worth living." Peeta pulls the chain with the gold disk from around his eck. He holds it in the moonlight so you can clearly see the mockingjay. Then his thumb slides over the catch I didn't notice beforeand the disk pops open. It's not solid, as I had thought, but a locket. And within the locket are photos. On the right side my mother and Prim, laughing. And on the left, Gale. Actually smiling. There is nothing in the world that could break me faster than these three faces._

And that's when I realize... I have loved the boy with the bread all along.

The next day I tell Peeta that I will teach him how to swim and take him to the water.

"Listen, I think it's time we leave. Soon it will just be down to us." I tell him while swimming. "Let's stick around until Brutus and Enobaria are dead. I think Beetee is creating some sort of trap now. Then we can go I promise." Beetee calls us over and proposes his plan. Wrap the wire around the lightning tree and trail the wire into the water electrocuting everyone in contact with the damp sand after the wave. We hike up to the tree around 9 giving us three hours before the lightning strikes. Peeta and I will guard the tree while Beetee and Finnick run the wire down to the water. Johanna stays with us. Soon we hear the insects signalling one hour left. Beetee and Finnick left with the wire. What seems like 45 minutes later Johanna tackles Peeta and I to the ground and sticks knives in our arms. "_stay down_" she hisses and runs off probably to find the others. The alliance is broken and we are going to die. But I'm not dead. I hear the thunder start to rumble and an idea forms in my head. Use the arena as a weapon. I reach behind me with my good arm and load my bow. _Remember who the real enemy is_. The Capitol is the enemy, they are to blame. I wrap the wire around the arrow. "Peeta I need you to run. I will follow you." He tries to object but he gets up and runs with me. The lightning strikes the tree and I let the arrow fly. The arena explodes and I grab Peeta's hand. We trip over something but we are so weak and tired from blood loss we don't move. _At least we die together_. I think to myself. And then I find a star.

I wake up in a hovercraft. Finnick lies next to me on the floor. They must think I'm dead. How could I be alive? Snow would have sent specific orders to kill me for stopping the games. I stand up slowly and grab a syringe off of the table next to me and wander down the halls.

"What am I supposed to tell the girl when she wakes up?! She's never going to agree to this." says Haymitch. Says Haymitch! I open the door. "Ah, you and a syringe against the Capitol see sweetheart. This is why no one let's you make the plans." he plucks the syringe from my hand. "What's going on?" I demand. "You are the Mockingjay, we planned to rescue you from the arena in the beginning. That was what the bread was for, we were trying to give you an idea of when it would happen. Plutarch has been part of a group trying to overthrow the Capitol for years. The job as head game maker helped him get on the inside. Get Snow to trust him. He knows his plans. We got you, Peeta, Finnick, and Beetee out of the arena. We are headed to District 13 right now." Haymitch is explaining all of this to me while he spins the syringe he took from me on the table. "What about Johanna? Why aren't we going to District 12? Where's Peeta?" I'm not entirely sure if I actually care what happened to Johanna but I still made a point in asking.

"All the other tributes were taken by the Capitol. I'll let Gale explain the District 12 situation, Peeta is still knocked out on painkillers, he was closer to the arena wall than you were when you decided to blow it up." Closer to the arena. "What happened exactly?"

"The lightning blew up the arena when you shot your arrow at it. The entire game system in the Capitol blew out. The first blackout the Capitol has ever seen, absolute chaos. Nice shooting sweetheart." Haymitch sips his coffee which judging by the smell, has a lot of alcohol mixed in it. "What about Effie?"

"Haven't heard from her. We haven't heard from Cinna either, I'm sorry Katniss." Plutarch says. "Can I see Peeta?" I look to Haymitch. He will let me go. I just need to get out of here. "One more thing." Plutarch pulls a black leather binder from underneath the table and slides it over to me. Cinna would have wanted you to see it for yourself."

I open the binder. Keeping my eye on Plutarch as I do, he has not yet been deemed trustworthy. When I open it I see, Cinna designed my Mockingjay suit. All black, tight fitted with my Mockingjay pin visible on the chest. Below the drawing in his careful handwriting. _I'm still betting on you. _My eyes start to sting, I need to get out, I need to leave this room. I shut the binder quickly. My vision is blurring with my tears. "Where, is Peeta" I choke out. Haymitch points to the door right behind me and I carefully stand up and walk out.

I never wanted this. I never wanted to be a symbol. I never wanted the Capitol to want anything to do with me. I never wanted my sister to be reaped. That seems to be the only problem I have ever solved. I volunteered for her. I put myself in all of this. I should have just eaten the berries and died like I was supposed to. The hovercraft landed in District 13 two days ago. Peeta woke up the day we arrived. Gale told me what happened to twelve. All those people died and it's my fault. Peeta, Gale, Prim, even my mother have been trying to get me to cooperate for days, but I don't want to do much of anything. I have outright ignored my duties as a citizen of District 13. Until one day I actually decide go to a command meeting.

"I am willing to be Mockingjay, under some terms. I want to go on a visit to 12, I want to be able to hunt, I want my sister to be able to keep her cat, and I want Peeta with me." I can feel Gale's eyes burning into the side of my head at the last request. "Yes I think it's best that we keep up the whole star-crossed lovers act-" I interrupt Coin. "It's not an act." I whisper so nobody can hear me. "What was that Soldier Everdeen?" Coin asks. "I said it's not an act." Gale gets up and leaves the room.

After the command meeting I go find Peeta in his compartment. I don't knock. "Peeta?"

"In here." he calls from the small room they call a living room but it's just big enough to fit a TV and a sofa.

"Hey." I planned on telling him it wasn't just an act for me anymore. But now I don't know how to.

"Hey." He says.

"Can we talk?" he gestures for me to sit down and he sits with me.

"About what?" he asks.

"About what happened on the beach." This is awkward and I look down at my shoes that don't fit right. Is this what love feels like?

"Katniss it's fine I underst-"

"No you don't you still think that was an act for me, when I kissed you I forgot where we were and what was happening the only thing that existed was me and you and that scared me a lot. It made me realize that this isn't an act for me anymore, I love you." I feel all the heat from my body creep into my cheeks.

Peeta says nothing. After a few minutes I am able to take my gaze off of my shoes and I look up at him. He's just standing there. "Peeta?" I don't get a response. He shakes his head and crosses the room. He leans down slightly and presses his lips against mine. I graze my hand up over his chest and around the back of his neck and kiss him deeply. The feeling from the beach is back and I want more, he pulls away first. "Katniss are you sure?" I nod, he picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist and he carries us to his bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Please review :) and if you don't already assume a thing is going to happen in the if not next then few chapters ahead ;)_**

The next morning when I wake up. I'm not in my house. I remember. _My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am 17 years old. I have survived 2 Hunger Games. I should be dead. _I see Peeta sleeping and slip out of bed. My first thought is _'why don't I have clothes on?' _then I remember what happened. Hopefully my mother and Prim haven't noticed I've been gone. I put on my clothes and start walking back to my apartment. I slip into my bed and let myself breathe.

"Katniss?" I woke Prim up.

"Yeah?" I whisper back.

"Where did you go last night? Were you with Peeta?"

I blush really red I can feel my cheeks get warm. She's a nurse nothing is a secret to her anymore but she's my little sister and it's still weird.

"Yeah." I turn my face into my pillow. "I was just wondering, I'll tell mom you were helping Finnick last night, he hasn't been well since he heard Annie got taken by the Capitol too." She tells me. "Can you tell her I'm still there? I want to make sure he's okay, did they get any other victors?" She nods her head. "All the victors that aren't here are in the Capitol right now. It was on TV earlier the Capitol believes that they're dangerous now that the rebellion has started." I can't help but feel like it's my fault they are all being tortured for information they don't have. "Thanks Prim." I kiss her forehead and leave to find Finnick.

Gale was patrolling the halls, I asked him where Finnick's room was he told me all the victors were put on the same floor. There were 6 rooms then. One was empty, one was Peeta's, one was Gale's, one was Beetee's, and one was taken by my mother, Prim, and I. I knocked on what had to be Finnick's door.

"Who is it?" He hadn't been asleep all night I bet.

"Katniss. Open the door." The door unlocks. I walk in and there is only Finnick and a bare room.

"Hey." He says. "I heard about Annie. I'm sorry." He laughs.

"You didn't take her to the Capitol did you?" He says.

"No, but it is my fault." I mumble but he heard me.

"None of this is your fault Katniss. If anything your the one saving all of us. You broke us out of the arena. We would all be dead right now if it weren't for you." He begins to tie knots with a rope.

"I could point out I'm the reason an entire District was blown up but I'm not here for that." He quickly undoes his sailor knot, that's all I remember from training. "Are you okay? There are people here that can help." I suggest, I know my mother and Prim helped me after my first games, but I think after two the damage on all of us is irreparable. "They don't understand what it's like to be trapped in a dome with 23 other people that want you dead Katniss." "Yeah, well Peeta and I do so you can talk to us." I stand up to leave and put my hand on the door. "One more thing, why are you being I'm not going to say nice all of a sudden. In the arena you wanted me dead I could tell that much." He says. "I wanted Peeta to live, if he were to live everyone including myself would have to die. Nothing personal. And the reason I'm being nice is because I know what it's like to lose someone too." I tell him, thinking of my father and Rue.

I walk with Finnick to get breakfast and sit down with Peeta."Where did you go this morning?" He asks me. "Sorry, I had to check on Prim." He chuckles. Finnick raises his eyebrows seductively.

"You know your sister is 13 now I think she can take care of herself. Plus your mom is back." From anyone else besides Peeta that would have rubbed me the wrong way.

"I know." Is all I say back.

"So what exactly was that last night?" I roll my eyes.

"I already told you Peeta." I pick at my food I'm not very hungry.

"You were serious?" He asks still not believing.

"Yes. How many times am I going to have to repeat it. I love you." He kisses me and the entire room goes silent, I swear you could hear a pin drop. Finnick smirks at me, Gale looks angry, everyone else just starts eating again. "I have a command meeting after this want to come? They are taking me to twelve." He takes my hand. "Sure, let's go. I dump my half eaten food in the trash and we go to command.

As soon as we get to command we are led to the hovercraft aboveground, about midflight the hovercraft starts to shake and a District 13 citizen that I don't know comes into the room yelling. "THE CAPITOL IS BEHIND US WE NEED TO LAND NOW." They must be coming back to check for survivors. I feel the hovercraft dive downward and Peeta hugs me to his chest as we skid across the floor. I must have passed out because when I wake up I'm in my house, in the Victors Village. I see the light from outside when someone opens the door, to leave or come in I don't know.

My waking up must have made noise, Peeta comes in the door and sees I'm awakw. "What happened? How long have I been out?" I ask. "About 6 hours but you hit your head really hard, Gale had to give you stitches." My hand automatically flies to the back of my head. I feel 10 little bumps, that must be where the stitches were. I look at my hand when I pull it back and it's covered in blood. "You bled a lot, they're still trying to get the blood out of the hovercraft." Peeta laughs a little. "Coin is gonna kill me." I mutter into a pillow. I'm so tired. "Are you feeling well enough to go walk around? They told your mother we were spending the night here, we didn't tell her why though." Good, if my mother found out that I busted my head open she would have demanded I come home immediately and District 13 would never let me come back a second time. It was a big enough risk letting me come once. I shake my head and Peeta climbs into the bed with me.

Next time I wake up light is filtering through the window. Someone knocks on the door and I slowly get up. My entire body hurts. I gently shake Peeta awake and we head downstairs to the kitchen. "Ready to go?" The same person that shouted about the Capitol being behind us asks. "Just a minute." I run back up the stairs to get my fathers hunting jacket, my mother and fathers wedding photo and the book of edible and medicinal plants. Something bright catches my eye ontop of the dresser in my room. I nudge the door open with my foot and inside the room is a single white rose. It's smell too strong to be real and just underneath the sweet flower smell. President Snow was here, in my room, I decide against telling anyone. It might not even be real. I'm still "mentally disoriented."

They take our little group to the woods and shoot some stuff with Gale and I hunting, they catch me singing '_The Hanging Tree' _Peeta tells me my father used to sing it walking into the bakery to trade with his father. One of the camera men that I call "the insects" starts to make gestures asking for me to sing more. He must be an avox, I've never heard him speak. Just as our group is headed back to the smoking remains of District 12 a hovercraft appears. At first its small so I wrote it off as a mockingjay but as it got closer it got louder. Cressida started shouting and pointing back to the woods so we ran back to the concrete hut and hid inside. The Capitol was back looking for survivors to take prisoner and they wouldn't hesitate to kill me on sight. They would definently keep Peeta, force him to talk the districts down from a rebellion somehow. The hovercraft is so close now and so low the hut is shuddering. The noise fades away and Gale checks to make sure the coast is clear. He waves a hand forward and we trek back through the woods to the Victors Village.

Once I get back in District 13 Peeta offers to let me stay with him I drop the things from home at my mother and my sisters apartment. I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning Peeta shakes me awake, President Coin wants us in command. I slap his hand a way and mumble something into the pillow. Peeta doesn't try to wake me up again and Coin will be pissed, but I can deal with that later.

_Rue comes with me to blow up the careers supplies. She cases after me in the woods none of us bothering to be quiet, my bow is loaded and I can kill anyone within seeing range, and the careers probably already know that. But I'm not sure how... they've never seen me shoot. Suddenly I don't hear footsteps behind me anymore, I turn and see rue slumping to the ground with blood seeping out of, everywhere. Then everything goes black and I feel cold and wet. I open my eyes to be greeted by saltwater. Saltwater? I swim to the surface and the cornucopia is in the middle of 12 spokes leading to land. I see Peeta, Finnick, and Mags waiting for me to get out. Then Enobaria sneaks up behind Peeta and I open my mouth to tell him to run but I'm too late. She's already ripped his throat out._

I fly boltright up in bed. Peeta's side of the bed is cold. "Peeta!" Panic seeping into my voice. "Peeta! Where are you?!" He comes running into the room. "What's wrong?!" I can breathe. It was a nightmare. "Nothing, just stay with me?"

"Always." And we fall back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**_So this chapter I kinda used to put things back together with Katniss and Gale, they will be friends later on but I didn't really see Gale being like "oh ok you totally just broke my heart but I'm totally fine with you not loving me back." because that's just not how life works. He's not supposed to be a jerk he just needs time. Sorry I just felt like that needed to be said because Gale gets a lot of unnecessary hate in this fandom._** **_Anyway please review and this chapter was pretty blah there's going to be excitement in the next one I promise I'm starting it now. WHO SAW MOCKINGJAY LIKE IT WAS PERFECT IN EVERY SINGLE WAY I CANNOT EVEN I HAD A PANIC ATTACK AFTERWARD SOMEONE GIVE JOSH HUTCHERSON A F*CKING OSCAR. Ok I'm done._**

I wake to a loud beeping. Peeta shuts it off and pulls me closer, "we have to get up." I try telling him. "They can't make us do anything you're the Mockingjay." He has a point but someone begins pounding on the door. "Coming!" Peeta shouts and I crawl out of bed and put my grey government issued clothes on, making sure the pearl Peeta gave me on the beach is still in my pocket. Peeta opens the door, Gale starts talking to him quietly and I don't want him to know I'm here. I silently move closer to the door and I can hear what he's saying. "Have you seen Katniss since last night? She never went back to her compartment after the hovercraft landed and nobody can find her anywhere." I don't know how else to get out of this. I step into view of the door. "Who was it? Oh, hey." Gale's face hardens and he leaves. Peeta shuts the door. "What was that for?" He raises his eyebrows. "People might as well know it's not an act anymore, I gotta go explain myself to my mom and Prim." I wrap my arms around his neck and his go around my waist and I kiss him goodbye.

The sigh of relief is audible across the room when I walk in to my family's compartment. "Where were you, Gale looked in all your spots, Prim checked the entire hospital, Coin was about to call you to command throughout the whole district." My mother says tiredly. "I passed out in 12, so they brought me back and Peeta's room was the closest so I just slept there for the night." Mom puts her head in her hands. "Just tell me next time you don't come home." And now I feel bad, she had to send me off to the arena twice and now I'm being sent into combat where again, I could die. "I'm sorry, I'll come back here first next time." She nods and gets ready to leave for the hospital. Someone knocks on the door and Prim gets up to answer. "Katniss they want you in Command." I stand up to leave but she grabs my arm. "What's going on with you and Gale? You guys don't talk, he doesn't stop by and he doesn't check in with us at the hospital anymore." Prim sounds a little hurt and it hurts me that Gale at least not talking to my family is my fault. They got close to him while I was in the Games. "I'll talk to him, he's just hurt right now." Prim lets go of my arm and walks with me halfway, then leaves to go to the hospital.

I enter Command and Peeta's already there. I sit in the space next to him and screens slide up from the table in front of every seat. The lights go out and the propo starts. _A tiny spark flickers in the center. It blossoms, spreads, silently eating up the blackness until the entire frame is ablaze with a fire so real and so intense, I imagine I feel the heat emanating from it. The image of my mockingjay pin emerges, glowing red-gold. The deep resonant voice that haunts my dreams begins to speak. Claudius Templesmith, the official announcer of the Hunger Games, says, "Katniss Everdeen the girl who was on fire burns on." _

_Suddenly there I am, replacing the mockingjay, _standing in the rubble of District 12. "I'm standing here in District 12. This was my home before the Capitol reduced it to ashes. They killed Peeta's family, my friend Madge and her family and so many more. The screen cuts to all of the burned bodies around some partially crushed by pieces of buildings some out in the open. My voice speaks again. _"I want to tell people that if you think for one second the Capitol will treat us fairly, you're deluding yourself. Because you know who they are and what they do."_ Cut to Peeta sitting on the melted remains of one of the ovens in his home before the games, with his head down. This must have been after I got knocked out. _"This is what they do and we must fight back! Fire is catching and if we burn you burn with us!" Flames engulf the screen again. Superimposed on them in black, solid letters are these words: __**IF WE BURN YOU BURN WITH US.**_ _The words catch fire and the whole screen burns to blackness._ I don't remember saying any of this but it works well so I don't say anything. The entire room claps and cheers, I join the clapping but then I realize that I'm clapping for myself and stop. Peeta grabs my hand under the table and I feel my cheeks heat up. Coin approves and Beetee starts talking about how the Capitol technology works and that he hacked into the system and this will be broadcasted to all the Districts tonight. Peeta is dismissed halfway through, I tell him not to wait for me I'll come to his compartment after.

Command lets out and I call for Gale to wait, he ignores me. I push my way through the crowd and grab his arm. "Gale we need to talk." "About what." I've never heard his voice so cold. "I understand why you're ignoring me and I'm sorry I wish there was a way to fix that, you know I love you but not in the way that I love Peeta. But don't take this out on Prim you were all they had when I was gone. If you need to hate someone hate me." The possibility of losing my best friend makes my eyes sting with tears and I force myself not to cry. "I could never hate you Catnip." The first tear falls. "I just can't watch you with him. Since the beach in the Quarter Quell I knew, maybe even before that. Don't worry Katniss, it'll pass." He walks away and I run back to my family's compartment and cry myself to sleep.

**_Italics are direct quotes from the books just for future reference._**


	4. Chapter 4

_**I just wanted to give a warning before you read this. Katniss is poisoned and she has a seizure because of it. I have never had one myself or known anyone who has. I tried my best to get the information right but it might not be. **_

_**Please review and if anyone finds this offensive PM me and I'll take this chapter down and redo it.**_

When I wake up Prim is home. "What time is it?" Buttercup flicks his tail in my face and I push him off the bed. "Dinner, I was just about to wake you up to go down. Peeta stopped by earlier." I forgot to go to his place after I talked to Gale, probably best that I did. I put on the shoes that were broken in all weird and walk down to the dining hall. Peeta is sitting over by the tv's in the center of the room. I make my way over and sit next to him. "Hey sorry about earlier I went home and fell asleep." I hope Prim didn't tell him while I was as- "Prim told me you came home crying. What happened?" I'll be mad at her later. "Gale and I got in a fight." He leaves it at that and we finish eating and go back to his apartment for bed.

I wake up in the middle of the night feeling sick. I make a run for the small bathroom and empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet. I feel my hair put into a ponytail behind me. Peeta rubs my back; I sit down on the floor and rest my head against the wall. I don't remember anything after that.

When I wake up I hear a heart monitor beeping. I feel several needles in my arm. I move a finger and Prim rushes in pushing doctors aside. "Katniss!" I open my mouth to talk but one of the doctors stops me. "I don't want you talking for a while. Just listen, we found poison in your system, it gave you a seizure, Peeta was smart to bring you straight here another 5 minutes and you could have been dead." Another thing I'll never stop owing him for. "This was an assassination attempt, we have notified the president. All the chefs are under interrogation as well as all of the Capitol citizens that are here to help the rebellion. We will find who is responsible for this Ms. Everdeeen. You will be assigned a taster to ensure your safety." I nod and feel a searing pain in my neck. I wonder how long I've been out. "We will let your family in now." They leave and my mother and Gale enter. District 13 must not have figured out that Gale isn't my real cousin yet. "I tried to talk Coin into letting you off Mockingjay duty for a while. She'll give you a week once you're discharged but she wants you to shoot something as soon as you can talk notifying the Capitol that they failed." Gale explains, there must have been a Command meeting. "Thank you Gale. Where's Peeta?" I mouth to my sister. "I'll go get him."

Prim arrives back 10 minutes later with a cup of cold water and Peeta. He pulls a stool next to the bed, sits on it, and tightly grabs my hand. "Nobody knows anything?" Peeta asks my mother. She shakes her head. "Just that this was a Capitol plot, who would want her dead here?" Probably more than any of us would think. "Coin knows there are Capitol sympathizers here. That's why all the military equipment is on such heavy lockdown." Gale says. I decide that I can try and talk now. "When am I going to be let out?" I feel the bed dip and Prim grabs my other hand. "They want to keep you here for the rest of the night and maybe tomorrow night. But nobody really makes you do anything do they?" I smile a little at that. "Not really little duck."

They released me after 4 hours of observation. While I'm here I decide to check on Finnick since he basically lives in the hospital now. "My name is Finnick Odair. I am 24 years old. My home is District 4. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me. Annie was taken prisoner. She's thought to be dead, most likely is dead. It is probably best if she was dead." He keeps repeating this not noticing me in the doorway; he's furiously tying knots in his rope. He tightens them so hard he has a hard time getting them undone. I silently wonder what would have happened to me if the Capitol took Peeta. It would probably destroy me. "Finnick." He doesn't notice me, I walk to his bed and sit down. There's plenty of room because he's curled up in a ball near his pillows. "Finnick" I try again, no response. I gently take the rope out of his hands and he immediately snaps out of it. "Oh hey Katniss. How long have you been here?" My heart breaks a little at the sight of him so broken. He's one of my only friends here. I need to do something. "Not long, I'm going to see what I can do about getting Annie out for you." His eyes widen, he's about to cry. "Really? Could you ask about Johanna too? I know this is too much to ask but she doesn't deserve to be in there either." I nod my head. "Yeah, I'm going to go talk to Coin now okay?" The door slides open to let me out and I walk straight to Command.

I walk in the room and Plutarch and Coin are sitting at the big table in the center of the room. "I need to talk." I say to no one in particular. "Go on, take a seat Ms. Everdeen." Plutarch motions to the chair across from him. "I have some conditions on continuing to be the Mockingjay." Coin sighs. "Katniss you have already agreed to thi-" "Yes, but I was under the false impression that I would be protected. Someone just tried to kill me. So I will not continue to help unless you agree to some things." Coin tells me to go on. "I want you to rescue the tributes in the Capitol at the first opportunity." "No." She says. _"You will hold yourself and your government responsible for their safety, or you will find yourself another Mockingjay!" _Coin looks impressed for a split second. "Fine. Anything else?" She asks. I should throw Prim in there too. "When the opportunity arises I kill Snow. And my sister gets to keep her cat." She genuinely smiles at the first one. "Yes, when we have captured the president, I will be sure to hand you the arrow myself."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Not updating again until 10 reviews. I need ideas.**_

Instead of my compartment I go straight to Peeta's. "Katniss?" He seems surprised. He puts something in his pocket but for now I ignore it. "I was about to go looking for you I need to ask you something." He pulls whatever it was back out of his pocket and tells me to sit down. "I uh, don't really know what I'm doing but I wanted to do this alone with you considering everything about us has been in front of the entire country. Katniss, I've been in love with you since we were 5. I never thought that I was going to be able to talk to you. And to be marrying you 11 years later it was too good to be true, even if it wasn't real. When you suggested we get married to convince Snow, I was upset because I wanted it to be real. Then I told myself who cares you get to spend the rest of your life with Katniss Everdeen isn't that more than you could have ever hoped for? So I dealt with it. When you told me you loved me back for real I couldn't believe how lucky I was. But I want to actually get to marry you." I cover my face with my hands and realize that I've been crying. I wipe the tears away and I see what he was holding in his hand. It's a ring, the pearl he gave me in the Quell in the middle. Two red and orange beads on both sides and a silver band. (A/N: link somewhere in bio) "It's not much, they don't have much down here, I asked Beetee to find what he could. Will you marry me? For real this time?" I pull his lips to mine "yes." My cheeks already ache from smiling. He picks me up, his hands on the bottom of my thighs and my legs around his waist. Both of my arms draped around the back of his neck. "I love you so much" he says. "I love you too." His lips find the way back to mine, he runs his tongue across my bottom lip and I grant him entrance. He makes his way to the bed and lays me down unbuttoning my grey shirt.

Peeta is still asleep; someone is knocking on the door. It's dark in the room so I put the on the first shirt I find on the floor and peek my head out of the door. It's Finnick, "they want all of us in Command. I thought I might find you here." He smirks and walks off. I shut the door and turn on the florescent lights. Peeta cringes and wakes with a start. "Haymitch wasn't kidding. Am I the only nice one when it comes to waking people up?" He shoves his face back into the pillow. "Yep, they want us all in Command for something." His eyes have adjusted to the light and he looks at me. "Then you might want to brush your hair before we go." That explains Finnick's look a few minutes ago. "Just get dressed." I laugh and go to fix my hair.

When we get to Command the room is filled with the usual people, Gale, Finnick, Haymitch, Coin, Plutarch, and some new people as well. "Katniss this is your official film crew, they are going to be making and taping propos for you from now on. " Plutarch explains. "This is Cressida, one of the best filmmakers in the Capitol." Plutarch points to a woman with a half-shaven head and green vine tattoos on her scalp. "Yeah, until I up and left." She holds her hand out to me. "It's an honor to be working with you." I shake her hand and nod trying to seem friendly, I decide that will forever be Peeta's strong point and give up. "This is Castor and Pollux, your camera men." After introductions we sit down. Pollux does something with his hands, and Castor makes some hand motions back. Cressida notices me staring "Pollux is an avox. They're using a language from the Dark Days, it's called Sign Language." We learned about languages in school, but I've never seen any other language except English used. "Most of the avoxes use it fluently with each other even though it's forbidden." I make eye contact with Gale and I know he's thinking of the same thing I am. The girl who saw us in the woods. Did the Capitol kill her? Or is she a silent slave working for the gamemakers as they set up this years arena? Coin starts the meeting by handing us all boxes about the size of my hand. "I'm giving you all a communicuff, you should all be accessible at all times. This way we will all be at last minute meetings quicker, and it's easier to find all of you." She gives me a pointed look. "You should all take them out and set them up. Plutarch, Soldier Hawthorne, or I can help yo-" The projector turns on and the Capitol's anthem blares throughout the room. Caesar settles himself in a chair across from Johanna she doesn't look any different except she's not wearing a blue and purple jumpsuit. "So… Johanna… Welcome back." Johanna doesn't smile. "I bet you thought you'd done your last interview with me Caesar." She sounds different somehow_. "I confess, I did" says Caesar. "The night before the Quarter Quell… well, who ever thought we'd see you again?"_ Johanna scoffs and looks away from the camera as if she's trying to contain herself from ripping his throat out. "What would you like to say to the rebels Johanna?" Caesar asks. Johanna looks into straight into the camera and says. "There is no point in rebelling. No point. Why would you want to Katniss? Peeta? Finnick? You could have anything you wanted right here in the Capitol handed to you. You're safe from the reaping and from the Games." She gets more intense and leans closer to the camera as if to make sure we are listening closely. "We have technology the rebels don't if we wanted to we could end this right now." Caesar tenses and Capitol guards rush at Johanna and then the screen goes black.

"That was a warning." Finnick says. "The Capitol is coming that was a warning." Coin pushes a button and the sirens in the whole District start going off. We are led out of the room, I grab my box and shove it in my pocket. The citizens of 13 are calmly walking down the stairs, even the children. Nobody is pushing or shoving or running. I grab Peeta's hand and start looking for Prim as I get farther and farther down the stairs. My ears start to pop and there's no sign of her. We get to the bottom of the stairs and Peeta and I find a bunk to share. My mother walks through the door without Prim. I walk to her, Peeta follows. _"Where's Prim?" I ask. "Isn't she here?" She replies. "She was supposed too come straight down from the hospital. She left ten minutes before I did. Where is she? Where could she have gone?" I squeeze my lids shut tight for a moment, to track her as I would prey on a hunt. See her react to the sirens, rush to help the patients, nod as they gesture for her to descend to the bunker, and then hesitate with her on the stairs. Torn for a moment. But why? My eyes fly open. "The cat! She went back for him!" _ My mother Peeta and I push our way back to the doors that are slowly being closed, nothing, not even me, could open them once they shut. "HOLD THE DOOR!" I shout to the guards and then run to the stairs that are now empty. "PRIM!" The first bomb goes off and debris falls, the lights in the stairwell flash. "PRIM!" My shouts get more desperate._ Then I hear it. The faint sound of footsteps on the stairs. "We're coming!" I hear my sister call. "Hold the door!" That was Gale. "They're coming!" I tell the guards, and they slide the door open about a foot. But I don't dare move- afraid they'll lock us all out._ We all run through the door and they finish closing it as the second bomb goes off. I turn to Prim and grab her by the shoulders, giving her an angry shake, "What were you thinking?!" "I couldn't leave him behind Katniss, not twice I wouldn't be able to live with myself!" She says. "I know." I pull her into a hug squishing Buttercup, who makes an angry noise. "Shut up you stupid cat." I'm still shaking when the third bomb goes off and Peeta is trying to calm me down. The lights go out and everyone turns on the flashlights given in the packs. I turn mine on and the light hits the floor at first. Buttercup launches out of his seat on Prim's lap and tries to attack it. The people around us laugh and I shake the flashlight and Buttercup chases and paws at it. _I'm petty enough to enjoy it because I think it makes him look stupid._ I notice everyone is laughing at the dumb cat except Finnick, who's tying his rope with bleeding fingers. I try not to pay too much attention to it and leave him be. But as I'm wiggling the flashlight on the wall just out of Buttercup's reach I realize, the flashlight is Annie and Buttercup is Finnick. Snow is dangling Annie right out of his reach and taunting him with it. If I were to turn the flashlight off Buttercup would be distressed but eventually get on with his life, which is what would happen if Annie died. I wonder what would happen to me if I were in Finnick's situation. Suddenly the game isn't fun anymore and I hand the flashlight to Peeta.

Later that night my communicuff beeps and a message pops up on the screen

SOLDIER EVERDEEN AND MELLARK TO COMMAND

I wake Peeta up; his is beeping too. We are led to the doors and they are opened for us as the bombing is mostly over. They shut it behind us.


	6. Chapter 6

**I**_** INCLUDED HANGING TREE AT THE END I KNOW I MENTIONED IT BEFORE BUT THIS SONG IS MY JAM IT'S SO MORBID I LOVE IT. I know I said no more updates until 10 reviews but I stress write so... **_ _**Andd I got off break so I feel bad for the future when I won't update all the time. But Christmas is coming and I'll write a buttload then I have so much inspiration for this story. Review please ^_^**_

Boggs lets us in the Command room and Coin asks if my mother and Prim are okay. "They're fine." I tell her. "Katniss, I need you to do something for me, I want you to tell the Districts that we survived an attack by the Capitol with no casualties." I know this isn't a request so I agree. I want to be on camera as little as possible. "Peeta we'll want you in on propos later on, that's why we sent for you as well. Did you grab your communicuff before you left Command?" I nod but Peeta shakes his head. "That's alright, we have extra take one." She hands a box to Peeta and he slips it on his wrist. "Did they hit anything important?" If they did we won't be able to attack the Capitol, we won't have the resources. Next years games will be worse than ever. "No they were working on outdated information. We completely rearrange everything every 10 years just incase of something like this." Coin replies.

A day later they release us from the bunker. Peeta, Finnick, Haymitch, Gale and I are all expected above ground as soon as the bunker is cleared and I am prepped. I'm not wearing my Mockingjay suit for this propo because we aren't going into combat. They hand out coffee, which I have never been a fan of. Finnick takes my cup and puts some cream in it and hands it back to me. _"Want a sugar cube?" He asks in his old seductive voice. "Here it improves the taste," he says in his real voice, plunking three cubes in my cup._ On our way up Gale and Boggs discuss the damage done by the bombs. As we exit the elevator everyone slows down. _I don't know what the problem is at first and then I see the ground strewn with fresh pink and red roses. "Don't touch them!" I yell. "They're for me!" the sickeningly sweet smell hits my nose, and my heart begins to hammer in my chest. Long stemmed pink and red beauties, the very flowers that decorated the set where Peeta and I performed our post-victory interview. Flowers not meant for one, but for a pair of lovers._ Peeta looks just as unhinged as I feel. The caffeine in the coffee isn't helping anymore. I'm wide awake, the leftover shaking from the coffee gets worse. They have someone cart the roses away. "Alright all we need are a few lines to show you're alive and still fighting." Says Cressida. I stare into the red light. "I've got nothing." _I swear I can still smell those roses._ Cressida looks at me worriedly. _"You feeling okay?" She pulls a small cloth from her pocket and blots my face. "How about we do the old Q-and-A thing?" "Yeah. That would help , I think."_ _Cressida's back in position now._ Then bam, out of nowhere I can't breathe and I start crying. An entire District died because of me. The Capitol killed almost all of them. People are out there dying because of me right now what have I done? It feels like someone is choking me, and I wonder if I'm dying for a few minutes. Haymitch, Cressida, Gale, and Peeta crowd around me and I can't seem to get enough air in my chest, I'm starting to see black dots. "I-I c-can't-t" I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want people dying for me. There is nothing I can do to stop it. I feel a pinch in my arm. The last thing I hear is my own heart pounding.

I wake up in a bed. Not my bed, I'm not connected to any wires; there are no needles in my arms or legs. "What?" The metal door slides open and my mother comes in. "Hey, you okay?" She asks. "I think so. What happened?" "You had a panic attack. There wasn't much we could do, they can't harm you or kill you so you're free to go." It sure felt fatal, but I feel fine now. Just a little tired. "You were out for about an hour. Do you want to talk about it?" She hands me a cup of water and I sip at it. "I can't do this. People are just going to keep dying and it's my fault, there's nothing I can do to stop it. Our District was nearly wiped out because of me. I don't want to add more people who's deaths I'm responsible for." She nods her head understandingly. "But Katniss, think about it. If this continues, the games end. Forever. Think about how many innocent lives you would be saving then." I think about what she said, "what if this fails." I say, "but what if it doesn't?" She gives my shoulder an affectionate squeeze and then gets back to work.

Later I get up and go find dinner. Flavorless broth and beets, after I eat I go and move a few of my things to Peeta's compartment. My extra pair of clothes, the spile from the arena, my gold mockingjay pin since they made a new one with the costume, and the parachute. Prim goes to our little shelf and hands me a book. I recognize it almost immediately. It's the book of edible plants my father and I made. "How did this get here?" I ask trying not to cry. "Peeta brought it back, along with mom and dad's wedding picture, his hunting jacket, and some herbs from the kitchen." _You could live a thousand lifetimes, and still not deserve that boy._ I hear Haymitch from before the Quarter Quell. He's right; I don't deserve him. But by some miracle I have him and I intend to keep it that way. "Thank you Prim." She smiles. "You can take his hunting jacket too if you want, I don't think mom would mind." I smile back and hug her. "I want you to have something of his too little duck." I kiss the top of her head and wrap everything in the cloth of the parachute, except the book, which wouldn't fit. Then I go to Peeta's, which was right across the hall. I put my clothes in the drawer next to Peeta's, the book on the small desk next to the bed along with the pin and spile. I shove the parachute under my extra set of clothes in the drawer.

It's been a while since I've sang and I have nothing to do, no one is around. So for the first time it feels like since my father died. I sing for myself, not for cameras.

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where they strung up a man _

_They say who murdered three_

_Strange things did happen here _

_No stranger would it be _

_If we met at midnight _

_In the hanging tree_

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where a dead man called out_

_For his love to flee_

_Strange things did happen here _

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met at midnight_

_In the hanging tree_

_Are you, are you _

_Coming to the tree_

_Where I told you to run_

_So we'd both be free_

_Strange things did happen here _

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met at midnight _

_In the hanging tree_

_Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Wear a necklace of rope_

_Side by side with me_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met at midnight _

_In the hanging tree._

I didn't notice the door open but Peeta is leaning against the wall, as soon as I finished he says "if there were birds, they would be dead silent."


End file.
